Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c18.7

c18.7

Secondly, we know from the Jain Sūtras that the country in which the Jain monks could preach was confined to Aṅga, Magadha, Kosambī, Thūṇā and Sāvatthī, or roughly speaking that tract of land which includes modern Bihar, eastern U. P., and a portion of western U. P., and therefore, it is natural that the geographical knowledge of the early Jain scriptures should be confined entirely to that area. Thus in the Bhagavatī, the Āvaśyaka cūrṇi and other scriptures we are told the names of number of towns, townlets, villages etc., mostly belonging to Aṅga-Magadha of which unfortunately there are no traces. It is, however, related in the Jain scriptures, and the tradition is very ancient and genuine, that in the time of Samprati, the grandson of Aśoka, who was a devout Jain, other parts of the country including Mahārāstra, Andhra, Saurāstra and Coorg (Kuḍukka) etc. were opened to the Jain monks for preaching and proselytizing. This fact alone increased the geographical knowledge of the Jains substantially.